Goslings

They were surrounded by adults...dozens and dozens of them, including a couple of white ones and a number of ducks, but they clearly had been placed at the edge of the water and instructed not to move. They were so well camouflaged that I had to fiddle with the light just to get a decent shot of them.

We were out early this morning trying to get all the outdoor essentials done before it got too hot. I sat in the hot tub watching OilMan dig a hole for the fig tree...a chore involving a heavy pointed digging iron, a pick and a lot of rocks. once all the large roots and rocks were sifted out, what remained had to be put through a sieve to winnow out all the small rocks and roots and bamboo leaves. Eventually I felt pretty guilty watching all that effort and listening to all the muttering and mumbling and prepared myself to tackle pruning the arbutus.  It's looking decidedly dejected now that it has been freed from the bamboo so we're hoping a bit of pruning and more light will perk it up a bit. When I couldn't reach any higher I replanted a couple of pots with new succulents...one plant that thrives here despite summer heat, winter cold, little water and terrible soil.

Figuring out where to place the multitude of new plants and the plethora of pots that seem to have accumulated in one small area will be next. OilMan and I have different ideas about how this should be accomplished. He wants me to place each new plant so that he can dig the holes. I would rather plant the tree and remove the sawhorse, the dirt sifter, the three shovels, two brooms 14 buckets, two chairs and the large tarp with a mound of dirt on it before I decide where the smaller plants should.

His solution? Being an engineer, he has made a scale drawing on which I am to mark the placement of fifteen small plants. We'll have to see how that works out....